Balanced scoring leads to Indians' shutout of Falcons

The South Central Ohio League match for the Hillsboro Indians showed balanced scoring from the offense and defensive play that didn't allow many shots at the goal, and when all was said and done after 80 minutes, a defense that pitched a shootout.

Hillsboro defeated the visiting Clinton-Massie Falcons by a 5-0 score, using their speed and experience to build a four-goal lead by the time halftime rolled around, leading to a current overall record of 2-0-1 and 1-0-1 in the SCOL.

The tied score was against Wilmington in league play this season, by a 3-3 score.

The first half was nearly halfway complete when the Indians got on the board first, as Quinn Conlon scored on a header and beat the defense of the Falcons with 23:27 left in the opening half for the one-goal advantage.

That would be all the scoring the Indians needed, but for good measure, they added three more goals in the first half and one more in the final 40 minutes.

"Overall, we started very slow," HHS head coach John Weber said. "The first 15 or 20 minutes, we didn't play to our full potential, but as it picked up we calmed down and started to pass the ball.

"Right now, Clinton-Massie is very young. I was pleased with our play, especially in the second half."

HHS followed their first goal with a 2-0 lead at the 17:24 mark of the opening half as Daniel Jacky scored his goal off a rebound, and the lead went to a three-goal advantage with Andrew Gunderman sending the ball to the left corner of the net with 14:38 on the scoreboard.

The final goal of the first half came with a header from DJ Brown for the four-goal lead with 5 seconds left in the half.

Hillsboro's lone goal in the second half came with 14:54 remaining in the match as Marshall Ward made it a 5-0 score.

"In the second half, even though we only scored one goal in the second, I really liked our play on movement on the ball," Weber said. “As a whole, I was impressed, but we need to continue to work on our finishing. We continue to kick right at or over the goal … we continue to do that a lot, and we have to start capitalizing on that."

Another aspect of the game Weber was pleased with was the play of his defense.

"They played well. It is anchored by our senior sweeper MacKenzie Conlon," Weber said. "The younger two on the side, both sophomores, they played well. We have a very defensive-oriented team.

"The defensive players had just as good touches as some of our mids and forwards, so overall we have a really strong squad that I'm really happy with."